JavaScript Data Grid Disabled cells

Make specified cells read-only to protect them from unwanted changes but still allow navigation and copying of data.

In this article

• Overview
• Read-only columns
• Read-only specific cells
• Non-editable columns
• Non-editable specific cells
• Related API reference

Overview

Disabling a cell makes the cell read-only or non-editable. Both have similar outcomes, with the following differences:

Read-only cell readOnly: true	Non-editable cell editor: false
Has an additional CSS class (htDimmed)	Has no additional CSS class
Copy works, paste doesn't work	Copy-paste works
Drag-to-fill doesn't work	Drag-to-fill works
Can't be changed by populateFromArray()	Can be changed by populateFromArray()

Read-only columns

In many use cases, you will need to configure a certain column to be read-only. This column will be available for keyboard navigation and copying data (Ctrl/Cmd + C). Editing and pasting data will be disabled.

To make a column read-only, declare it in the columns configuration option. You can also define a special renderer function that will dim the read-only values, providing a visual cue for the user that the cells are read-only.

import Handsontable from 'handsontable'; import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css'; const container = document.querySelector('#example1'); const hot = new Handsontable(container, { data: [ { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' }, { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' } ], height: 'auto', colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'], licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation', columns: [ { data: 'car', readOnly: true }, { data: 'year' }, { data: 'chassis' }, { data: 'bumper' } ] }); <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.js"></script> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.css" /> <script src="https://handsontable.com/docs/12.4/scripts/fixer.js"></script> <div id="example1" class="hot "></div>

import Handsontable from 'handsontable';
import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css';

const container = document.querySelector('#example1');
const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  data: [
    { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' },
    { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' }
  ],
  height: 'auto',
  colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'],
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  columns: [
    {
      data: 'car',
      readOnly: true
    },
    {
      data: 'year'
    },
    {
      data: 'chassis'
    },
    {
      data: 'bumper'
    }
  ]
});

Read-only specific cells

This example makes cells that contain the word "Nissan" read-only. It forces all cells to be processed by the cells function which will decide whether a cell's metadata should have the readOnly property set.

import Handsontable from 'handsontable'; import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css'; const container = document.querySelector('#example2'); const hot = new Handsontable(container, { data: [ { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' }, { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' } ], colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'], height: 'auto', licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation' }); hot.updateSettings({ cells(row, col) { const cellProperties = {}; if (hot.getData()[row][col] === 'Nissan') { cellProperties.readOnly = true; } return cellProperties; } }); <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.js"></script> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.css" /> <script src="https://handsontable.com/docs/12.4/scripts/fixer.js"></script> <div id="example2" class="hot "></div>

import Handsontable from 'handsontable';
import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css';

const container = document.querySelector('#example2');
const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  data: [
    { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' },
    { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' }
  ],
  colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'],
  height: 'auto',
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation'
});

hot.updateSettings({
  cells(row, col) {
    const cellProperties = {};

    if (hot.getData()[row][col] === 'Nissan') {
      cellProperties.readOnly = true;
    }

    return cellProperties;
  }
});

Non-editable cells behave like any other cells apart from preventing you from manually changing their values.

Non-editable columns

In many cases, you will need to configure a certain column to be non-editable. Doing this does not change its basic behaviour, apart from editing. This means that you can still use the keyboard navigation Ctrl/Cmd + C, and Ctrl/Cmd + V functionalities, and drag-to-fill, etc.

To make a column non-editable, declare it in the columns configuration option. You can also define a special renderer function that will dim the editor value. This will provide the user with a visual cue that the cell is non-editable.

import Handsontable from 'handsontable'; import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css'; const container = document.querySelector('#example3'); const hot = new Handsontable(container, { data: [ { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' }, { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' } ], height: 'auto', colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'], licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation', columns: [ { data: 'car', editor: false }, { data: 'year', editor: 'numeric' }, { data: 'chassis', editor: 'text' }, { data: 'bumper', editor: 'text' } ] }); <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.js"></script> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.css" /> <script src="https://handsontable.com/docs/12.4/scripts/fixer.js"></script> <div id="example3" class="hot "></div>

import Handsontable from 'handsontable';
import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css';

const container = document.querySelector('#example3');
const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  data: [
    { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' },
    { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' }
  ],
  height: 'auto',
  colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'],
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation',
  columns: [
    {
      data: 'car',
      editor: false
    },
    {
      data: 'year',
      editor: 'numeric'
    },
    {
      data: 'chassis',
      editor: 'text'
    },
    {
      data: 'bumper',
      editor: 'text'
    }
  ]
});

Non-editable specific cells

The following example shows the table with non-editable cells containing the word "Nissan". This cell property is optional and can be easily set in the Handsontable configuration.

import Handsontable from 'handsontable'; import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css'; const container = document.querySelector('#example4'); const hot = new Handsontable(container, { data: [ { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' }, { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' }, { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' } ], colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'], height: 'auto', licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation' }); hot.updateSettings({ cells(row, col, prop) { const cellProperties = {}; if (hot.getDataAtRowProp(row, prop) === 'Nissan') { cellProperties.editor = false; } else { cellProperties.editor = 'text'; } return cellProperties; } }); <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.js"></script> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/handsontable@12.4/dist/handsontable.full.min.css" /> <script src="https://handsontable.com/docs/12.4/scripts/fixer.js"></script> <div id="example4" class="hot "></div>

import Handsontable from 'handsontable';
import 'handsontable/dist/handsontable.full.min.css';

const container = document.querySelector('#example4');
const hot = new Handsontable(container, {
  data: [
    { car: 'Tesla', year: 2017, chassis: 'black', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Nissan', year: 2018, chassis: 'blue', bumper: 'blue' },
    { car: 'Chrysler', year: 2019, chassis: 'yellow', bumper: 'black' },
    { car: 'Volvo', year: 2020, chassis: 'white', bumper: 'gray' }
  ],
  colHeaders: ['Car', 'Year', 'Chassis color', 'Bumper color'],
  height: 'auto',
  licenseKey: 'non-commercial-and-evaluation'
});

hot.updateSettings({
  cells(row, col, prop) {
    const cellProperties = {};

    if (hot.getDataAtRowProp(row, prop) === 'Nissan') {
      cellProperties.editor = false;

    } else {
      cellProperties.editor = 'text';
    }

    return cellProperties;
  }
});

Related API reference

• Configuration options:
  • readOnly
  • readOnlyCellClassName